Population aging is unprecedented, without parallel in the history of humanity. As type 2 diabetes mellitus is predominantly more prevalent in aging populations, this creates a major public health burden. Older adults with diabetes have the highest rates of major lower-extremity amputation, myocardial infarction, visual impairment, and end-stage renal disease of any age group. The aims of our study were to assess whether age is an independent factor for the occurrence of diabetic neuropathy (DN), and to evaluate the relationship between the presence and the severity of DN and the diabetes duration and blood glucose level. In this study, we enrolled 198 patients, previously diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus. For all patients, we measured hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), lipid profile, and body mass index and we assessed the presence and severity of DN using the evaluation of clinical signs and symptoms. Patients had a median age of 62 years, with a median of diabetes duration of 7 years; 55.1% of the patients were men and the average HbA1c in the cohort was 8.2%. The prevalence of DN according to Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument was 28.8%, being significantly and positively correlated with higher age (65 vs 59 years; P=0.001) and HbA1c (8.6% vs 8.0%; P=0.027). No significant correlations were observed between the severity of DN and diabetes duration, body mass index (31.9 vs 29.9 kg/m2), or the number of centimeters exceeding the normal waist circumference (25.2 vs 17.3 cm; P=0.003). In conclusion, age influences the presence of DN, independent on other risk factors. This influence persists even after adjusting for other, very important risk factors, like blood glucose level or diabetes duration.

BackgroundDistal symmetric polyneuropathy (DSPN) is the most common complication of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and the most common form of peripheral neuropathy. DSPN increases the risk of foot ulceration up to seven-fold, and is a significant risk factor in more than 60 % of the amputations of the lower limbs in patients with T2DM. The aims of our study were to evaluate the difference in the density of intraepidermal nerve fibers (IENF) in patients with respectively without DSPN, to evaluate the strength of the relationship between the symptomatology of the DSPN and IENF density and to define a cutoff value of the IENF density for the diagnosis of DSPN.MethodsWe enrolled, according to a consecutive, population-based method, 36 patients with T2DM admitted in our Clinic. For all patients, we measured HbA1c, lipid profile, body mass index and we assessed the presence and severity of DSPN using the evaluation of clinical symptoms, nerve conduction velocity and IENF density quantification.ResultsThe presence of neuropathy was significantly associated with a decreased density of IENF for both the proximal (11.6 vs. 14.9 fibers/mm; p = 0.014) and the distal biopsies (7.2 vs. 8.6 fibers/mm; p = 0.020). The optimal threshold value of IENF density (the point with the maximum sum of specificity and sensitivity), according to our model, was 10.1 fibers/mm.ConclusionsSkin biopsy followed by IENF density quantification is a valid, reliable tool for the diagnosis of DSPN.

We report on a 13-month-old boy with abnormalities consistent with mosaic trisomy 8 syndrome and male genitalia with partial penoscrotal transposition without hypospadias, a retractile left testis in inguinal canal, and an absent right testis. A voiding cystourethrogram showed an outpouching close to the lower right side of the bladder (utriculum) and bilateral hydronephrosis secondary to vesicoureteral reflux. Peripheral blood karyotype was 45,X/47,XY,+8. The karyotype of cultured skin fibroblasts was 47,XY,+8 with no 45,X cells detected among 20 cells counted. Tissues removed during surgery documented a 45,X/47,XY,+8 complement in the left testicle and utriculum, but only a 45,X line among 20 cells counted from vas deferens tissue. A possible mechanism for the origin of this previously unreported mosaicism might be an abnormal zygote with a 47,XY,+8 complement with subsequent simultaneous loss of chromosome Y and 8 in a cell at a very early embryonic stage.

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Context. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is common in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients, being difficult to diagnose.Objective. To find a correlation between elastographic parameters and lab results, for facilitating the diagnosis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.Design. This is a cross sectional study, conducted at the Departments of Diabetes, Nutrition and Metabolic Diseases, and Gastroenterology and Hepatology, of the Clinical Emergency Hospital "Pius Brinzeu" Timisoara.Subjects and Methods. We included 190 type 2 diabetes mellitus patients, collected data regarding medical history, clinical and biological features and applied the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. We excluded patients with other causes of liver disease. Liver steatosis and fibrosis were evaluated through transient elastography, yielding two parameters: liver stiffness as an indicator of liver fibrosis stage, expressed in kPa, and liver steatosis stage, assessed by controlled attenuation parameter, expressed in dB/m. Data were analyzed using SPSS 15.Results. The analyzed group comprised 113 patients. Elastographic measurements showed that 93.8% of the patients had steatosis (controlled attenuation parameter ≥232.5 dB/m) and 70.8% severe steatosis (controlled attenuation parameter ≥290 dB/m). Severe steatosis was more common in women (75.7%) than in men (68.1%) (p<0.0001). From the patients with steatosis, 47.2% had liver stiffness values suggestive for fibrosis and 19.8% for cirrhosis. Most patients with steatosis and severe fibrosis were obese (66.7%). Triglycerides/HDLc ratio >4 correlated with hepatic steatosis (p=0.04), being more common in patients with severe fibrosis/cirrhosis (58.3%) than in those with absent or mild fibrosis (36.2%).Conclusions. Our study found a clear correlation between type 2 diabetes mellitus and the presence of liver steatosis. It correlates with body mass index, waist circumference (in men) and triglycerides/HDLc ratio. Controlled attenuation parameter is a useful noninvasive method for detection and quantification of liver steatosis.